Sergio Perez believes Sauber will be able to challenge for victories in 2013 due to the stability of the regulations.

Perez impressed for Sauber in 2012 and challenged for victory in Malaysia while also threatening to win at Monza. Those performances were enough to earn him a move to McLaren for this season, but with little changes in the technical regulations Perez expects Sauber's new car to be quick enough to be in the hunt for race wins on occasion once again.

"They will be strong again," Perez is quoted by Autosport. "The regulations don't change, so there's no reason for them not to be at a very competitive level.

"I am sure they will have some races where they will be fighting for wins. If they get a good result, I will be happy for them. I would prefer them to have a good result than other teams [except McLaren]."

Perez's replacement Nico Hulkenberg is more reserved in his predictions, saying it's "too early" to try and forecast how competitive Sauber can be.

"I wouldn't talk about scoring podiums [with Sauber] at this point because it's too early," Hulkenberg said. "Nobody knows where the cars are going to be next year. But I see the potential there and I hope that we can achieve good things, whatever that may be."